Nilachakra

Flirting with POSCO

Jaya Jagannath,

POSCO the proprietor of world’s two largest steel plants at Gwangyang and Pohang in South Korea has plans to establish the third largest steel plant at Jagatsinghpur, Odisha. This Rs 52,000 crore investment on 4,000 acres of land and it’s Rs 5,000-crore worth captive sea port project at Jatadhari will coin to India’s largest foreign direct investment project ever. Detailed project profile and project progress are linked.

A sustainable livelihood opportunity that can leap industrialization and growth in the state for near about 2 lakh job seekers thru it’s ancillary and down-stream industries apart from research works and innovation facilities. The conditional approval from the central government with 15 conditions including the consent of the tribal people and other traditional forest dwellers as per the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 are met.

This is a humiliation to mineral rich Odisha that contributes to nation’s mineral appetite with 98.4 per cent of chromite, 56 per cent of bauxite, 28.7 per cent graphite, 28.5 per cent manganese, 34 per cent iron, 24.8 per cent coal and 91 per cent nickel.

The conditions for environmental clearance for the steel plant include:
• following national ambient air quality standards,
• carrying sustainability study of water requirement,
• green area within the plant to be 25 percent of total area,
• making risk and disaster management plans, and devoting two percent of net annual profit to corporate social responsibility.

The clearance conditions for the captive minor port include:
• no construction in the high erosion zone,
• taking shoreline protection measures,
• submitting a detailed Marine Environment Conservation Plan,
• To compensate the loss of fishing activity.

These additional conditions also include POSCO ensuring that the entire project meets nationally mandated air quality standards, allotting 2% of its annual net profit for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ensuring that 25% of the project constitutes a “green area”.

Considering POSCO as an autograph of prosperity for Odisha, delays and hurdles to such a prospect is not only humiliation to state’s revenue interests, but also an embarrassment to intellectual minds. Should center and state govt. not pushing this project for an early completion and immediate production mode, the whole bunch of well wishers and intellectuals may remark at this whole episode as flirting with POSCO. . Jaya Jagannath.

Regards
Team Nilachakra